/||\ -----------------------------------------
/ || \ Starfleet Command, Second Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-63100
.-/ || \-. Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, Commanding
./ || \. -----------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
.-_ \||/ _-.
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/ Simulation Teaser |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
"Mr. Lucsly, my patience is wearing thin," Brian Aldur said. "Would you
care to tell me why you used a priority two alert to drag my ship halfway
across the sector, only to make me cool my heels out here for two days?
As you are no doubt well aware, there IS still the danger of a civil war,
invasion, or both in the Camelyn system."
The Department of Temporal Investigations agent was not impressed. "Your
duties to task force 2.7 have been temporarily delegated to another
commander, Fleet Captain Aldur. As you have surmised, we have a job for
you that requires you and your ship's rather... unique talents."
Aldur groaned inwardly, but kept it off his face. "You've been waiting
for this for the last year, haven't you?" Brian demanded. "Ever since
the DTI found out our ship exists, you've been trying to get me and my
crew transferred to your establishment. Well, I'm sorry, but there's a
war on and we have slightly more importa..."
A second communications channel opened parallel to the first, and Special
Agent Dulmer appeared. "Aldur, relax," he snapped. "This is just a
temporary assignment. We need you to solve a little mystery. Once
you've done it, you can go back to war and death if that amuses you."
The Captain leaned back and regarded the two DTI agents thoughtfully.
"All right," he said at last. "What's the job?"
---------------
The starship hung a few thousand kilometers from Starbase 153. It's two
long warp nacelles were pitted and cracked, as was the cigar shaped
secondary hull and spherical primary hull. Overall only a shade over 100
meters long, it had clearly seen better days. Scores of micrometeroids
had apparently punctured the outer skin, and several scorch marks were
visible across her hull.
Coronado approached, dwarfing the tiny ship as the frigate swung around
aft of the ship, headed for the front of the darkened sphere. Aldur
leaned forward, watching the ship, an amused look fighting a slightly
awed expression for control of his face.
When these ships and her mates had roamed the stars, lasers and nuclear
warheads were considered heavy armaments, and these ships had been the
queens of their day, the heaviest cruiser made by the just-born United
Federation of Planets. Even their name was one of magic... Daedalus
class. Aldur had never seen one whole, but here one was, and for a ship
more than two centuries old, it seemed in surprisingly good shape.
Here was a ship built before humans had even heard of Klingons. A ship
launched when the UFP was less than a decade old. The entire bulk of
explored space measured barely 60 light-years across, the fastest ships
were only capable of speeds of warp three on the older measurement
scale, barely warp two on the modern scale. Space was vast, the time to
cross from Earth to Vulcan months instead of days.
As Coronado swung around and came to a stop in front of the ancient
cruiser, Aldur could just make out the ship's name and registration.
U.S.S. Horizon, NCC-173
Aldur blinked. Every Starfleet Captain knew by heart the fates of the
first eight Daedalus-class explorers and the first twelve Constitution-
class starships. And this ship's presence... was impossible.
Horizon had been destroyed more than 200 years ago!
\____________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
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Ross Glenn aka Jester
Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-63100
http://www.ussrenegade.com/coro2400/